Once again, we offer you a warm welcome to the Bookshelf of the Barn Door Book Loft. And before we announce our winners we’d like to offer a special thanks to these Christian authors who offered a sample of their writing to our faithful readers:Janet K. Brown who offered her Women’s Fiction Worth Her Weight Christine Lindsay who offered her Christian Histor […]

I'm honored to host Lena Nelson Dooley on this blog site today! She's long been one of the authors I've admired. Lena, can you us: is there a story behind your book, 8 Weddings and a Miracle?This collection was put together by the editorial department at Barbour publishing using multi-published, and often award-winning, authors.What kind of b […]

Back Cover BlurbSometimes Love Needs a Little Divine InterventionNine modern couples face challenges on their way to the marriage altar, and readers will delight in how God intervenes to get them to the point of "I do." Be it a meeting in the wrong place at the right time, an accident that opens hardened hearts, or weather that seems to blow things […]

In the winter, we all need a pick-me-up, and often, a good book does just the trick!Clash of the Titles is pleased to present these brand new novels.Which one is calling you? Take a moment to browse, then choose which you're most likely to read first. VOTE BELOW from now until next Wednesday - tell your friends - then come back and see which book is thi […]

From the first clap of thunder to the conclusion of the book,Julie B. Cosgrove holds the reader in the palm of her hand. --Author Victoria Pitt CaineAbout Hush in the Storm:Jen, a young widow floundering in the storm of mourning, whose only lifeline is her humdrum job, is tossed into a maze of deceit and intrigue […]

I read [Baxter Road Miracle] in one day, simply because I really didn't want to stop until I got to the end. Bet you will as well. Kudos to Carlene Havel for sharing this story with the world. --Amazon ReviewerBaxter Road Miracleby Carlene HavelAbout the book: Can faith move mountains? The Youngbloods are about to find out. Henry Youngblood is determine […]

As I stated last week, November is NANOWRIMO. I'm working on the next Stones Creek novel. It's the story of Chloe, Noah Preston's sister. She comes to Stones Creek with her two children. If you would like to read her pre-story simply subscribe to Sophie's Special Emails. No more than twice a month will you receive an email with special co […]

It is November and thus NANOWRIMO, National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to begin a novel and write 50,000 words during the month. Since this occupies most of my focus for these four weeks I will be reposting previous articles each week this month. Fudgsicles, how long has it been since I’ve had a fudgsicle? I’m not sure, but they came to mind when […]

What? You think you know everything? I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but no one knows everything. Oh, there is one, Hashem. He's omniscient. But no one else is. Even Yeshua (Jesus) isn't. He doesn't know the hour or day he will come again. Some people rejoice in learning something new. I tend to be one of those people. I read about […]

About the BookThe day new Christian, Derek Spencer, shows up on Charlie Parkes’s doorstep to make up for what he’d done, is the very day he falls in love with her. But Charlie’s sister mistakes him for a home improvement contractor, and he decides to play along until he finds a way to tell her who he really is.Charlie is attracted to Derek, but knows the att […]

Walking HealedA Journey of Forgiveness, Grace, and HopeEbook $2.99Print availableBuy on Amazon, Barnes and NobleShelleyWilburn Living with intimidation, oppression, depression, panic, and anxiety takes a toll on a person. We don’t often know why we are going through the things we are. We can’t explain the feelings we have or why we do the things we do. Many […]

Your book can be listed FOR FREE in our "Books for the Beach" directory that will be published in early May. The directory will be available at the official I Love To Write Day site at www.ilovetowriteday.org and also sent to readers who have requested a copy via e-mail. The FREE listing includes: Book title, author and Web URL (either your Website […]

Birdie Kaminsky is the daughter of con artists and is herself a petty thief but once you learn how difficult her up bringing is you'll grow a soft spot for her. Having moved from place to place in order to keep one step ahead of the law (partly her fault and partly her parents) all she really wants is a place to belong and to fill the void in her life […]

I'm a big Austen fan and I love Pride and Prejudice so my fear was this would be a feeble attempt at sequel. I was pleasantly surprised. Georgiana Darcey, Mr. Darcey's younger sister, is now 18 years old and in love with her co-guardian Colonel Fitzwilliams. Elliot and Masselos do a great job fleshing out some of the peripheral characters from the […]

This first book in a promising series, takes place in 19th century Scotland in the Orkney islands at the time of the Clearances. It was a time when wealthy landowners were changing their mode of land management and ruthlessly throwing tenants off the land.When Lord McDonald takes over the estate of Westland and its holdings, he's determined to make impr […]

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Thank you for your encouragement and support for the past three years. We've had fun connecting with you and hope you've found useful material here on Reflections.
And here's the but...
Reflections In Hindsight is closing on December 21, 2012. Elaine and Sophie and I can be found over at http://authorculture.blogspot.com; April can be found at Clash of the Titles, http://www.clashofthetitles, http://www.aprilgardner.com and watch for news for more novels from her!; Janet is ever-present on the Internet with her very special words of wisdom and grace at http://www.janetperezeckles.com, and Luther--who knows where he'll show up next, but I'd watch my back if I were you...
Book Reviews are always important, so I, Lisa, will continue to offer them through my blog, as well as those promotions for your new books or book launches, or your news.

Halfway Through NaNo

I’m failing miserably on my NaNo word count. I think I have a total of 16,300 words written for the entire month. I don’t know why I just can’t get going on this story–maybe it’s because I have a bunch of other things going on. Needless to say I haven’t been managing my time as well as I could be.

For those of you who have read this blog in the past, you know that I have struggled with addictions to video games. That said, that’s a part of what has taken me away from NaNo this year, but it’s not the entire reason. I’m also taking on a leadership role in my youth group, so every Wednesday I’m at my church all day working on youth group stuff. I reclaimed some closet space yesterday and started reclaiming a little nook towards the back of our multipurpose room where we had been storing a whole bunch of sound equipment stuff that we never really used since we don’t have a worship team at the moment. It was all just sitting there, and has been for years, but we never did anything about it. Well, yesterday I did, and it took me all day to sift through everything and figure out what went where and how I could get some space for the youth group.

Some of our arsenal hanging in the "Merge Cave"

All in all, I’ve decided to go back and try to finish my 4th novel instead of continuing the one I’m working on right now. I should have just listened to my critique group and finished it instead of writing this new one. So that’s what I’m going to do. Maybe I can finish strong in both NaNo and my fourth novel by the end of the month.

4 Responses to “Halfway Through NaNo”

Hi there. I’ve just finished my first book and was reading about writing critique groups. (Maybe in a previous post here, I don’t remember). I believe this is my next step before trying to get published. How does one go about finding qualified people to critique your work? Thanks in advance for answering this question.

Ben Erlichmansaid

I would suggest getting involved in a writing group that either represents your genre (speculative fiction, thriller, romance, Amish, mystery, etc.) or perhaps a larger one like the American Christian Fiction Writers group (if you write Christian fiction, or write from a Christian POV). Do some research, find some groups to join (you may only need one). There, within those groups, seek out others who wish to be in a critique group, and band together and do it. That’s how I did it.

Another option is finding a critique partner rather than an entire group. I had great success trading manuscript critiques with some friends who wrote in comparable genres. I learned more there than I did in any critique group.